Alcon, an eyecare subsidiary of pharmaceutical firm Novartis, agreed yesterday to buy US-based eyecare technology developer PowerVision, a Novartis portfolio company, in a $285m transaction.
Founded in 2002, PowerVision is developing an intraocular lens (IOL) implant aimed at improving the sight of elderly patients suffering from cataracts and presbyopia, a condition that gradually reduces the eye’s ability to actively focus.
The implant is inserted into the eye’s capsular bag and reacts to the natural contractions of the eye muscles to help make fluid thicker when viewing nearer objects and thinner when focusing on farther distances.
Alcon intends to further develop the product and advance it through clinical trials to prepare it for commercial availability. It will also make additional payments based on the achievement of specified regulatory and commercial milestones.
The Novartis subsidiary secured the option to acquire PowerVision after extending the company’s series D round to $40m in 2016.
The initial $20m for the round came two years earlier, from medical device producer Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation – JJDC, the corporate venturing arm of medical group Johnson & Johnson, as well as Venrock, Advanced Technology Ventures (ATV), Lexington Capital and Frazier Healthcare Ventures.
Aisling Capital, Correlation Venture Partners and Venrock then provided the $10m second tranche later in 2014. PowerVision had collected $37.2m in a 2012 series C round that included JJDC, Medtronic, ATV, Venrock, Frazier Healthcare and Panorama Capital.
ATV, Frazier Healthcare and JP Morgan Partners, a subsidiary of investment bank JP Morgan, had participated in PowerVision’s $20m series B round in 2007, which added to a $9m series A round closed in 2004.
Michael Onuscheck, president of global business and innovation at Alcon, said: “As the industry leader in cataract surgery, we’re eager to accelerate development of this potentially breakthrough accommodating lens technology.
“By treating cataracts and restoring natural, continuous range of vision, this intraocular lens may be the preferred IOL for cataract surgery patients who desire spectacle independence.”